London's Tory mayor/blogger, Boris Johnson, perhaps the only World City mayor who is as bike mad as our own Adrian Fenty, was very nearly struck by a speeding truck while out exploring potential bike lane routes the other day. In addition to very nearly depriving us of a delightfully wacky British politician, it demonstrates that we aren't safe out there. You watch this vid, and understand how people turn into "that annoying bike advocate guy who hates cars."
So be safe out there. If it can happen to Boris, it can happen to you. You too, Fenty.
4 comments:
One less politician is never a bad thing but it would have been a shame to lose one who was a cycling advocate.
verification word: distided - an ocean on a planet with no moon.
Depends on the politician, Mike. Boris is kind of interesting. I'm not sure if he's a revolutionary example of the breed, or just an eccentric hybrid. He is a fresh voice in British politics though, and I love seeing a politician who is basically pretty conservative embracing cycling. It's not movement conservatism to do so, but it's concordant with an older sort of conservatism that people like the Oxford Christians, Coleridge, and maybe the Southern Agrarians would recognize, basically transplanting a traditional method for getting around the village to urban and suburban neighborhood life. It's not destructive of the earth, and conducive to supporting local communities (e.g. better to shop around the corner and say hello to a neighbor while keeping your neighborhood vibrant, than at the big box outside of town).
Not that we should politicize cycling - I'm just recognizing that there are arguments for it on that side of the aisle that we don't make often enough. Our cause is the bike and we could do a better job of making common cause with both political sides.
Jim,
Notice how the other Truck/Lorrie just slows a bit and swings around?
The other thing was that no one seemed excited. In NA there would have been people dancing in the streets looking to get on Oprha, screaming and hollering at each other.
Just my observation.
-B
Can't see on camera, but how long does he stick around. Looks like he could have driven off.
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